Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager receives a plaque from the National Defense Industrial Association, recognizing his breaking of the sound barrier and the use of X- 1 loading pit, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. “In an age of media-made heroes, he is the real deal,” Edwards Air Force Base historian Jim Young said in August 2006 at the unveiling of a bronze statue of Yeager. He said the ride “was nice, just like riding fast in a car.” Image Source : AP In this Sept. 4, 1985, file photo, Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947, poses at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in front of the rocket-powered Bell X-IE plane that he flew. Gen. Charles Yeager talks to members of the media following a re-enactment flight commemorating his breaking of the sound barrier 65 years earlier, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.